HomeMarkandeya PuranaAdhy. 8Shloka 197
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Shloka 197

Adhyaya 8Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

श्मशानमागतः कस्मादद्यैष स नरेश्वरः ।

अपहाय पुत्रशोकं सापश्यत् पतितं पतिम् ॥

śmaśānam āgataḥ kasmād adyaiṣa sa nareśvaraḥ |

apahāya putra-śokaṃ sāpaśyat patitaṃ patim ||

“ਅੱਜ ਉਹ ਨਰਾਧਿਪ ਸ਼ਮਸ਼ਾਨ ਕਿਉਂ ਆਇਆ ਹੈ?” ਇਹ ਕਹਿ ਕੇ, ਪੁੱਤਰ ਦੇ ਸੋਗ ਨੂੰ ਇਕ ਪਾਸੇ ਰੱਖ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਪਤੀ ਨੂੰ ਧਰਤੀ ਉੱਤੇ ਡਿੱਗਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਵੇਖਿਆ।

śmaśānamto the cremation-ground
śmaśānam:
Karma (कर्म; gati-karman)
TypeNoun
Rootśmaśāna (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); goal of motion
āgataḥhaving come
āgataḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया; participial predicate)
TypeVerb
Rootā-√gam (धातु) + kta (क्त)
FormPast passive participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); ‘having come’
kasmātwhy/from what reason
kasmāt:
Hetu (हेतु; cause)
TypeNoun
Rootkim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormAblative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन); interrogative ‘from what cause/why’
adyatoday/now
adya:
Kāla-adhikaraṇa (काल-अधिकरण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootadya (अव्यय)
FormAdverb of time (कालवाचक-अव्यय)
eṣaḥthis (one)
eṣaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootetad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
saḥthat/he
saḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
nareśvaraḥthe king
nareśvaraḥ:
Samānādhikaraṇa (समानाधिकरण; apposition)
TypeNoun
Rootnara (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘lord of men/king’
apahāyahaving cast off
apahāya:
Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण; pūrvakāla)
TypeVerb
Rootapa-√hā (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
FormAbsolutive/Gerund (ल्यपन्त), from apa-√hā ‘to abandon’; ‘having abandoned’
putra-śokamgrief for her son
putra-śokam:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootputra (प्रातिपदिक) + śoka (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘grief for (one’s) son’
she
:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
apaśyatsaw
apaśyat:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Root√dṛś (धातु)
FormImperfect (लङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन); parasmaipada
patitamfallen
patitam:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Root√pat (धातु) + kta (क्त)
FormPast passive participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); qualifies patim
patimher husband
patim:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootpati (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)
Narrative voice reflecting the queen’s perception

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Śmaśāna as crisis-pointDouble suffering (loss of child and husband’s fall)Sudden reversal of royal fortune

FAQs

The verse portrays compounded sorrow and the mind’s forced reprioritization in disaster—personal grief yields to a larger shock, illustrating how saṃsāra delivers layered trials.

Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) rather than cosmological or genealogical pañcalakṣaṇa content.

The cremation-ground symbolizes the truth of endings; meeting the ‘fallen king’ there dramatizes the stripping away of worldly sovereignty before mortality.